Brits still buying French properties
Their numbers have declined in the past few years, but Britons remain the biggest foreign buyers in all but one region
BRITONS remain the biggest foreign buyers of French property, despite worsening exchange rates and the economic crisis, new figures have revealed.
Research by the Notaires de France found the proportion of foreign sales in the French property market has doubled since 2000, from 2.5% to 5%.
British investors make up 17% of the foreign purchases, down from 40% in 2004.
Despite the fall, they remain the biggest overseas buyers in every region in France except the Alpes-Maritimes, where they have been overtaken by the Italians.
The Creuse, Dordogne, central Paris and the Savoie ski resorts were the most popular locations for foreign property-hunters.
According to the notaires' report, foreign sales now make up 30% of all transactions in some central parts of Paris, around the 1st and 8th arrondissements.
Estate agents' body Fnaim says property prices fell 1.4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2010 but now look to be stabilising.
Towns that bucked the trend include Toulon (up 2.5%), Versailles (2.2%) and Rennes (1.9%). Prices in Nimes fell 16.3% and Angers 15.5%.
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